India & Nepal 2012

Today, at 5:45 am, the rumors of a strike happening were confirmed, as elections will be held again in the next couple of days. However, as usual in this country, (when it comes to the political situation) no one really seemed to know exactly what was going on, and its all very nebulous. But just to be on the safe side, we decided to postpone our trip to Pokhara for a day. We ended up having a slower but relaxing day. We left the house past noon but the transportation was running as usual and there were no signs of strike (in this case, strike mainly means no transportation) so we visited Bhaktapur, which is said to be the Cultural Capital of Nepal. On the bus, I have never sat so close to the front wind shield in my life! Haha. I was quite literally about 15 cm away, sitting on a sideways seat squished next to many other friendly Nepalis and cute children. I'm just glad the road was exceptionally smooth, and I later found out it was built by the Japanese. Heh. We enjoyed many sights and sounds along the way. Memories to treasure!

The creative ideas for making the job easier without machines. Push and pull! The construction right outside the house will be completed soon.

バクタプール旧市街。タイムスリップしたかの様。The old town of Bhaktapur. It’s almost like we time slipped.

近くで見るとすごい迫力なんです！！そして、なんと人がまだ普通に住んでいるところも！！ It’s interesting in close up too. People still live in these top floors around this square.

建物一つ一つにこんな細かい細工がなされている。

Each building has intricate designs like these.

ネパールの美術はどれも細かくて美しいんです！

The art here is so detailed and beautiful.

お土産物屋さん、エキゾチックな香りが満点！

The scents in these stores are exotic and stand out!

刺繍は独特の味わいがあります。

Original embroidery....beautiful.

古い建物をそのまま利用したレストランの３階テラス。味も格別！

A restaurant on the 3rd floor terrace of one of the ancient buildings. The food was also unique.

何をするでもなく、ゆったりと時を楽しむ人がひたすら多い♪

So many people just simply enjoying the time passing by....

ずっとこの街で暮らしているのかな。深い年輪を感じます。I wonder if they were living here all these years...Can almost feel their sage-like ness. Heh.

Here, the older men all wear the traditional dress of a Labeda Suruwal, complete with the topi (the hat that makes everyone look Nepali....maybe :D)

Here's some kind of board game that I discovered them playing. I couldn't grasp exactly what it is, but it looked like some sort of betting game with little red beans and pebbles as markers. It was so cute!!

どういうゲームがよくわかりませんでしたが、小石と赤い豆をマーカー代わりに使っていたのが可愛かったです。

美味しそうな匂いがあちこちからしてます。 It smelt good, but not sure how it tastes.

２人乗りは当たり前！！子どもちゃんもへっちゃら〜 2 people on the motorcycle :) Sights like this or with 3 people on the bike are common here.

ネパールのエリッククラプトン！？カワイイ！！ Nepali Eric Clapton? So cute!

This hairstyle (note the teeny bit of hair in the back) can also be seen regularly.....still need to ask why, as there must be a reason behind it. :D

外がさわがしいゾ！？ Hey, its loud out there!?

These two happy men kindly requested that they be the models for our photo taking, so here is one out of .....one photo that we took :D

この二人はモデルさんになっていいか聞いてきたので、１枚の一枚目の写真です。^^

枝美作！！今日は英気を養っていると思ったら、力作が仕上がってました！！

A creation by Emi who stayed home and rested today, and instead brushed up on her art skills!! Wow.